Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Top 13 Books of 2013


2013 is coming (very!) quickly to a close- meaning it's time for my Top 13 Books Read in 2013!!! I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year! Without further ado, here are the books:

(In no particular order)

1.The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey

16101128

2. The Darkest Minds Series by Alexandra Bracken
























3. The House of Hades by Rick Riordan
12127810

4. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
 17383918

5. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
16068905

6.The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
11870085

7. Anna and the French Kiss Series by Stephanie Perkins
17453983

16101168





















8.The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson
10429092

9. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
7514925




















10. Shatter Me Series by Tahereh Mafi
10429045





















13104080

11. The Archived by Victoria Schwab
10929432

12.The Elite by Kiera Cass
16248068

Friday, September 20, 2013

YALLFest Interview: Sean Williams


I am so excited about YALLFest 2013 (a young adult book festival) coming up this November! In celebration of the upcoming event, I have a special interview with YALLFest author of the Twinmaker series, Sean Williams!

Sean Williams
 

What one thing do you need to have when you write?
The right music. And chocolate as a reward when I finish.

Describe your book in 5 words
Jump meets Uglies. But different.

What is the hardest line to write- the first or the last?
The first line is often the hardest to write, but I like a good challenge. The line I like writing the least is the last because it means I have a whole load of rewriting ahead of me.

Best writing tip you ever received?
Give up. If you can do that, you’ll be happier and probably better off as a result. If you can’t, then you know writing is exactly the right thing for you!

Tell us 5 random facts about yourself.
1) I live in Adelaide, South Australia, a place that’s home to about a million other people but somehow feels like a small town, which is why I love it.
2) I still think music from the 1980s is cool.
Twinmaker (Twinmaker, #1)
3) My stepson has situs invertus, which means his heart is on the wrong side of his body. That’s not really about me, but it is pretty random.
4) I’m a huge fan of Doctor Who.
5) I’m minding a pair of green tree frogs, Skipper and Jumpy, for a young friend while she’s overseas with her family. You can see pictures of them on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/seanwilliamsauthor/.

Where's your favorite place to write?
In my study, a lovely upstairs nook containing all my favorite book-related things, but I’ve trained myself to write anywhere as long as I have my headphones and some music. I quite like writing in hotels, probably because someone else does all the household chores.

What are you working on now?
Crashland, the sequel to Twinmaker.

Learn more about Sean Williams and his Twinmaker series at



Monday, July 22, 2013

SIZZLING SUMMER GIVEAWAY + EXCERPT FROM ETHAN



 I am so excited to announce that I am participating in the SIZZLING SUMMER GIVEAWAY hosted by YA Bound!!
 Plus! I also have a special excerpt from ETHAN, by author of the Brightest Kind of Darkness Series, P. T. Michelle!

ETHAN (BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS Prequel)

Ethan (Brightest Kind of Darkness, #0.5)
Ethan Harris never thought monsters and darkness would consume his daily thoughts, but every night the same visions repeat in his dreams. He's careful to project a semblance of normalcy, keeping the suffocating darkness locked inside. As much as he wishes he could focus on girls, sports, and cars like other seventeen-year-olds, nothing distracts him from his own demons or shines through.

Until Nara Collins crosses his path. The blonde fascinates and intrigues him, giving him a measure of peace he's never felt before.

When Ethan discovers there's more to Nara than she allows others to see, that she might have a unique secret of her own, suddenly his world comes into focus.

*Excerpt*

  Blue Ridge’s main office bustles with activity as I slip into a chair next to the door, crushing my schedule in a tight grip. Being surrounded by so many people in close quarters always makes me tense. I barely register the blur of students needing late slips or parent volunteers signing in for the morning. My head is still hurting from my nightmares, and now my ears are ringing as I quickly brush pebble dust from the cemetery’s main entrance off the side of my shoe. It’s not like I didn’t expect the nightmares. It’s just that I’d thought I was learning to handle them better. So much for that theory. I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I left the house early and stopped by the cemetery to check Marcus’ mother’s headstone for a toy car. I made a promise and plan to keep it for as long as necessary.
  Ten minutes later, as soon as the last person files out, the secretary starts to turn to me when a blonde girl strolls through the door, breezing past my chair.
  “Hi,” she says, flicking her gaze at me briefly before addressing the secretary. “Morning, Ms. Cresh.”
  “Good morning, Nara.” The older woman chuckles. “What does Mr. Hallstead need this time? That man can never keep up with his paperwork.”
  I blink rapidly. Instead of blurring like everyone else does, in the brief second the girl looked at me, her features barreled through my headache, standing out in vivid clarity: bright green eyes, high cheekbones, and a wide smile. When the buzzing in my ears fades, I instantly straighten to watch her.
  “You know him so well. Mr. Hallstead sent me to get more copies of the permission slips for the class field trip to Jamestown next week. He’s run out and a few students still need to turn theirs in.”
Mr. Hallstead? Sounds familiar. I skim the schedule in my hand. He’s the teacher of the History class I’m here to switch out of so I can take the art class that’s only offered in the fall.
  Ms. Cresh hands her a stack of papers and once the girl leaves, the secretary smiles my way. “Okay, Mr. Harris. Now that the morning chaos is over, bring me your schedule and let’s make that switch to the class you wanted.”
  Standing, I fold my schedule and tuck it into my back pocket. “Thanks, Ms. Cresh, but I think I’ll just leave it as is. I’ll take the art class next year.”
  Her brow furrows. “Are you sure? It’s not a problem to switch it for you. We want your experience here to be a positive one.”
  Sympathy hangs in her tone, but I shake my head and let my gaze follow the blonde passing by the picture window as she walks down the hall. She’s on the slender side and taller than the average girl, probably around five seven or eight. My lips quirk at her indoor soccer shoes peeking out from the bottom of her jeans. An athlete, huh? “I’ve always wanted to go to Jamestown,” I murmur. 


Check out the other books in the Brightest Kind of Darkness Series:
Brightest Kind of Darkness (Brightest Kind of Darkness, #1)
Lucid (Brightest Kind of Darkness, #2)Destiny (Brightest Kind of Darkness, #3)
*ABOUT THE AUTHOR*